Schroeder's No-Brainer

Updated Aug. 18, 2000 12:29 a.m. ET

I n America, this is what they call a no-brainer. Since 1985, a provision in German law known as the Employment Promotion Act has allowed companies to offer certain types of jobs on a fixed-term, rather than permanent basis, for a period of up to two years. No big deal, you might say, except that in a country in which the words Sie sind Gefeuert! ("you're fired!") are all but verboten -- and in which labor costs remain the highest in the world -- such a law is a very big deal indeed. It means German companies can hire without the risk of being permanently stuck with an unsatisfactory employee. Without it,...